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Office of Communications and Government Affairs
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179
E-mail: tconn@shawnee.edu

(Article by Phyllis Noah, communications coordinator)

            Shawnee State University offers numerous online classes including cyber ethics, psychology, medical terminology, Web publishing, marketing, communications, plastics, nutrition, geology, management, health sciences, e-commerce and many more. In the next few months, more classes are being considered.
            The basic computer classes are in Microsoft Office in Word, PowerPoint and Access. The classes are full-credit classes and some are required for different degrees.
            “The online classes are popular and we are working with tech prep to offer more online classes,” said Janice Johnson, assistant professor of Management Information Systems, Department of Business Administration. “With gas prices so high, it makes it so much easier for everyone.”
             Online students and faculty at SSU also will be stepping up to a virtual world where more personal interaction can develop.
             The main complaint of students studying online, Johnson said, is they do not have the one-on-one interaction with other students or the faculty. A class in Second Life, a 3-D virtual world where students and faculty can interact with each other, is being offered in the fall semester. They will create a virtual island just for a meeting place.
            “We’re trying to make sure that even with classes online, the students are going to feel confident that they can do this and they are not going to run into something unexpected,” Johnson said. “There are classes that work really well online although some classes may need hands-on training also.”
            Students will have access to the SSU Blackboard that will help with online studies and some students may need to come into the university for lab. Also, students can use the SSU Student Success Center computers for the online classes.
            All the online classes are listed in the new “Summer and Fall Semester ’08 Course Schedule” that is now available at the Student Success Center and online. To download the schedule online, go to www.shawnee.edu, SSU Students, Course Offerings. The online classes are in sections 90 and 91 of the course schedule.